In much of the world, terrestrial organisms face the twin challenges of climate change and land use by humans. In a survey of a variety of tropical ecosystems in Costa Rica, Frishkoff et al. assessed the long-term responses of >300 native bird species to these challenges. Bird species from drier habitats showed greater ability to cope with the conversion of natural habitat to agriculture and with the drying trend in the region. Hence, these dry-habitat species are predicted to be relatively robust to future global change, whereas moist-habitat species may decline. The result will be a more homogenized and depleted fauna.